Good Luck Charm
by Whooptiedoo
Summary: After being chased out of the prison, the group is living on the road once again, with possible threats lurking around every corner. Then they cross paths with a very odd couple. Rated M for language and maybe more. Set after the finale of season 3.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay. A new thingy. I've pretty much worked out the plot already, and already started on chapter two, and I just have so much inspiration right now. I promise I won't suddenly quit with this story.. It's just that 'Nine lives, remember?' was my first fanfiction ever, and it's got so many mistakes and stuff.. And I simply didn't like it anymore. It was a nice experience and I've learned a lot of it, and now I have to move on and use that knowledge to become a better writer. So if you guys find any mistakes (including spelling/grammar, since I'm not a native speaker) or things that you don't like, please let me know!**

**You may notice there aren't any Woodbury citizens; that's because I didn't like the idea of the group suddenly consisting of what, 30 people? I prefer it to be just the little prison group. Maybe they'll stumble across them later, who knows.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of it's characters. Although it would be very cool if I did.**

**Rated M for language. And maybe more, later.**

* * *

"Ya alright?"

Carol glanced over her shoulder to see Daryl standing there, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

She shrugged. Was she alright? She was sure she was doing much better when they were still at the prison, being safely tucked away between the large fences. Or at least that's what they had thought, until one of the walkers somehow found a hole in one of them and crawled through, leading the way for its big group of undead friends. Luckily they had someone at watch at all times and the walkers only trickled in one by one due to the size of the hole, so everyone had gotten out in time. They didn't take the risk of closing the gates behind them, though, so the prison was probably completely overrun by now. Maybe they'd go back eventually, but nothing was sure in this world anymore.

A hand on her knee startled her from her thoughts. Daryl had taken place next to her on the small tree trunk, narrowing his eyes at her as if he was trying to read her mind.

"I'm alive," she said ultimately, giving him a faint smile. "That's something, I guess."

He squeezed her knee lightly before pulling his hand back. "We'll find something. I wasn't plannin' on livin' on the road again, and I don't think Rick is either."

She didn't respond, but instead listened to the soft whispers of the rest of the group for a while. Then someone loudly cleared his throat, and the whispers died down.

"Okay everyone," Rick spoke up, "We have to get moving, we can't risk stumbling upon another herd. Maybe we'll find a house or something to rest for a couple of hours, since I don't think it's any later than two or three AM yet and we're all tired. So get in the cars and let's go."

Carol heaved a sigh, and lifted herself off of the log. She had been in a great mood all day, enjoying the warmth of the sun in the big prison yard together with Maggie, Beth and Judy. It was a nice, lazy day, almost like the world had never gone to hell. But then, just as she was getting ready for bed, Glenn had come in screaming, and the new threat ruined everything.

Everything had gone so fast, she only had time to grab Judith, and stuff some formula, baby supplies and water bottles in a backpack. "I'm not losing anyone else in this hellhole," Rick had yelled out. So they just got out and ran. Ran to the cars, jumped in, waited for Glenn to open the gates and Daryl to shoot some walkers that had already gotten dangerously close and then hop in the car, and they hadn't stopped driving until about ten minutes ago.

As she was still deep in thoughts while walking, she almost tripped over Daryl who, for some reason, was crouching on one knee. He jumped up immediately, holding up some sticks with a shy smile. "Was lookin' for something to make new arrows with, lost a lot back at the prison."

Carol smiled at him, a genuine smile as he somewhat reminded her of a little boy with that bashful look of his. He gave her a small grin in return and nodded at her before he walked to the truck he shared with Rick. The bike had been on the exact side of the prison where the walkers had come in, so he had no other choice than to ride along in one of the cars, though she knew he didn't particularly like it.

She got in the car with Hershel, Beth, Carl and little Judith in her improvised crib in the middle. It was a long ride, or at least it felt like one. Beth had been singing softly in the beginning, but now she was fast asleep, her head occasionally lolling forward until she snapped it back up in a half-conscious state. Hershel was mostly focused on the road, not saying much, and Carl just simply looked out the window the entire time. Carol had tried to start a conversation, but he just eyed her for a second, pressed his lips in a thin line and looked back at the window.

She looked at Judith, who had been sleeping peacefully for most of the time, and decided to try and get some sleep herself. She closed her eyes as she rested her head against the window, her arms wrapped around her waist. The soft humming noise from the engine felt kind of suiting, and she soon dozed off to a light, uneasy sleep.

When she opened her eyes again, it was still dark. She looked around, and the car had come to a halt in front of a detached house. Carl had already gotten out of the car, and Hershel was gently nudging Beth, trying to wake her up the way he probably just woke Carol. She sent him a thankful smile as she opened the door. Then she grabbed the crib with Judith in it and walked around the car to see the rest of the group waiting in front of the open door, everyone but Rick and Daryl.

"They're just clearing it out," Maggie said. "I think it's safe though, we haven't spotted any walkers for miles and the door was already open, so nothing could be locked in there."

After a few minutes, it turned out Maggie was right.

"All clear." Rick gave them a thumbs-up from the doorway, and they all followed him inside. She had just put the little cradle on the table as the man spoke up.

"There isn't much room, but I think we'll manage. There are three bedrooms, two of them have double beds and the other one appears to be from a little girl, all pink and flowery, so there's only one single bed there."

Carol swallowed. She didn't want to sleep in that room nor even see it. "I'll sleep here, on the couch," she said quickly. She felt Maggie's arm snake around her back, pulling her closer to the young woman for a second like some sort of half hug. It was a sweet gesture, and she found herself feeling better already.

"Okay then," Rick continued. "There are two sofas, so someone can keep Carol company tonight. Now, I guess Glenn and Maggie want a double bed? And Hershel and Beth can take one too. Carl can take the single bed, and I'll keep watch." A muttered protest was heard from Carl's direction, but nobody paid much attention since the boy had unpleasant comments ready about everything these days.

She scanned the room, even though she already knew who was left. She met Daryl's eyes for a brief second before she turned to Rick. "So you're just not going to sleep at all? Maggie said there weren't any walkers for miles, it should be safe."

He gave her a stern look. "We're not risking it, and I'm not tired anyways. I'll manage."

"I'll do it," Daryl suddenly spoke up. "We can swap halfway through. Get some sleep, I'll wake ya after a few hours."

Rick eyed him and Carol for a moment, before giving in. "Fine then. I'll go check the cabinets, see if I can find some blankets for us. The beds upstairs do all have bedspreads. I suggest you guys don't stay up much longer, we've got a long day ahead."

Everyone followed his advice, and after some soft goodnights, everybody had gone upstairs. Carol looked around the room. It wasn't very big, but there was plenty of space for the three of them. Or four, actually, but Judy would be fine in her cradle. There was a dining table with eight chairs on one side of the room, and two sofas and an armchair on the other side. The sofas were facing each other, one right under the window and the other one more in the middle of the room. They were divided by a coffee table, and the big chair was at the head of that table. She decided to let Rick sleep on the couch at the window, so he could effortlessly look through the curtains if something was up.

Just as she sat down, Daryl stood in front of her, handing her a bottle of water. "Thought you'd be thirsty," he rasped, waiting until she took it from him before he slumped down on the armchair.

"You thought right," she smiled. "Thanks."

He nodded in reply, and looked up at Rick who had just gotten in, his arms filled with blankets.

"Found 'em," he smirked. He handed her a purple one. "Here ya go."

"We should look for bags here tomorrow, see if we can bring some of the useful stuff with us," Carol said.

"I was thinking the same thing. But that'll all be tomorrow, you should get some rest now," he replied as he unclasped his belt.

They used to change in private in the beginning, but somewhere along the journey they all had stopped caring. Privacy was something that didn't exist anymore. Sometimes they even just walked around in their underwear before they went to sleep, without anyone making a problem out of it. Anyone but Daryl of course – he was the only one that never set one foot out of his cell without his clothes on. Sometimes they jokingly called him a prude, and Carol and Hershel would share a sorrowful look. Only they knew the actual reason of him never showing much more than his arms, face and neck. Reason**s**, actually. They had seen them when he got shot by Andrea, back at the farm. Dozens of them, covering his chest and back, in varying lengths, widths and textures, the I's even dotted by what must've been cigarettes.

Shaking her head to remove the thoughts, she still politely looked away as Rick undressed. Instead she downed half of the water bottle – she really _was _thirsty – and got up to get the baby. You could already hear little mewls coming from the table's direction, an indication that there was a very hungry little girl waiting to be fed. She prepared the formula without any effort, plopping the teat in her mouth easily. When Rick was all done, he held his arms out to his daughter, and Carol handed her over.

"Haven't done this in a while," Rick said after a few quiet minutes, smiling at the infant in his arms.

"Well, you were busy keeping her safe."

"I know, but still.. I feel like I'm missing out on so many things." He placed the now almost empty bottle on the coffee table, and held Judith to his chest so that her chin rested on his shoulder, and started rubbing her back.

She wanted to say something, but then the little girl suddenly let out a loud burp and lightened the mood immediately.

"Lil' Asskicker's a real lady, huh?" Daryl said dryly, and they couldn't help but laugh way too loud for it to be appropriate, drunk with fatigue. Soon someone pounded on the floor above them, and they had to stifle their laughs with their hands to stay quiet. Even Daryl managed to flash his white teeth in a big grin.

After they had calmed down, Rick placed little Judith carefully back in her crib and put it next to his sofa so he could see directly in it from a laying position.

"Well. Ima go and try to get some sleep," he said after finishing a big yawn. He laid down, covering his baby daughter with a small pink blanket.

Carol swiftly slid her own pants off, still sitting down, catching Daryl's gaze as she tossed them to the side. She couldn't help but smirk as he looked away in a flash, his face going slightly crimson. She kept her tank top on and eased down, wrapping herself in the soft blanket.

Daryl turned off the small light on his crossbow, the sun was just starting to set so they didn't need it anymore.

"Wake me up in about three, four hours, 'kay?" Rick said.

"Sure," Daryl replied. He stood up and walked to the kitchen, holding a knife when he got back. "Lost my knife too," he explained on a soft tone as he caught her curious look. "Gonna need one if I want to make those arrows, though."

She folded her arm under her head and nodded understandingly, and watched with fascination as he started to trim the end of the first stick.

After not even two minutes, soft snores were heard from Rick's direction.

"I'm not tired anyways," Daryl scoffed, repeating what the former cop had said earlier. Carol chuckled in her blanket, trying not to wake him.

"You can't blame the man," she whispered. "He doesn't sleep much anymore these days."

Daryl nodded, and glanced at the sleeping man before looking back at her. "_You_ don't either, so ya should catch some shut-eye now ya still can, woman."

"I've already slept in the car," she stated. "What are you going to do all night?"

"These arrows will take some time," he said. "I'll be fine. Now go to sleep."

She closed her eyes with a smile. "Alright, alright. Goodnight."

"Night," she heard on a hushed tone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here it is, chapter two! I was a little busy searching for a nice fathersday present, sorry for the delay.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or it's characters.**

* * *

The next few days had been relatively the same to those first few hours after getting chased out of the prison. They drove for most of the day, rummaged houses, and occasionally stopped at the side of the road if Daryl spotted an animal or even just a trail in the woods they drove past. Sometimes they slept in the car, sometimes they found a house or store that they considered safe enough to settle for the night. They moved further and further away, out of the Governor's 'territory'. No one was certain if he was still alive or not, but they weren't willing to take the risk of bumping into him by staying in the same area. They were going to eliminate him without a doubt, but needed to find a safe place to stay and a lot more weapons and ammo than they had now.

On the fifth day everyone had become noticeably irritable, as the new lifestyle they were forced into reminded everyone of the awful winter they had spent like nomads – only this time it was 95 degrees outside, which made everyone literally hotheaded. People were starting to get oversensitive and the conversations sounded more like arguments, even little Judith had begun fussing about everything.

On the sixth day, they all came to the conclusion something had to happen. They had to find a more permanent place to stay and it had to be soon.

Exactly one week after being chased out of the prison, they decided to stop on a side road and stretch their legs for a little while after having been on the road for most of the day. After making sure there were no walkers straggling around, Daryl walked over to Rick, who had a lost look on his face. Together they stood in silence for a few minutes.

"I just don't know what to do with that boy anymore," Rick suddenly sighed.

He quickly scanned the area, and found Carl leaning against a tree with his arms crossed, glaring at the people that surrounded him. He had a look in his eyes that he couldn't quite place. Daryl didn't really know what to say to that, so instead he just kept quiet, waiting for the cop to continue.

"He's become so.. cold. It started when Sophia came out of that barn, and it only got worse ever since. The whole situation with.. with Lori," his voice cracked a little at the name of his late wife, "didn't make it any better, of course. And now he just shot that kid in cold blood."

"It was a Woodbury soldier," Daryl argued.

"It was a kid, just a few years older than Carl. He surrendered, Daryl, even tried to hand over his rifle. Hershel told me. He just shot the boy in the head without hesitation, didn't even flinch."

Well, that was new information. He had heard about the young Grimes shooting a soldier, but had decided to just stay out of it, since he figured it wasn't really any of his business. He glanced at the angry boy again, and suddenly recognized the look in his eyes. It reminded him of Shane, the way he scowled at everyone – especially Rick – in the last few weeks of his life. He wondered if his friend saw the same. He started chewing on his thumb nervously, the feeling of a second Shane making him uneasy. He had never really liked the unpredictable man with his sly smile, and was actually glad he was gone. But now with Carl.. The boy obviously didn't hesitate to kill, and that was dangerous. He wondered if it was still possible for him to change for the better, now that he was still so young.

Then he heard someone hiss Rick's name quietly, and they both turned their head to see who it was. Glenn and Maggie eyed them from the woods, motioning for the men to follow them. They looked at each other for a moment, and Rick shot another look at the group, knowing Daryl would understand what he meant.

"'s Alright," Daryl said on a low tone. "I'll go check it out." He swung his crossbow over his shoulder and stalked towards the young couple. They turned around and he followed them without a word, wondering what was going on.

After a minute or so, a wrought iron fence became visible through the trees.

"What the fuck?" He narrowed his eyes and looked past the fence. There was a big house, it definitely belonged to rich people before the world went to shit. It was white with a bright red roof and a balcony. It was one of those houses that usually had a fancy porch and patio as well, maybe even a pool, but those weren't seen from the side they were watching it from.

"So what do you think?" Maggie asked. "It looks safe, right? With the fences and all."

He let his eyes run along them. They were around seven and a half feet high with sharp finials at the end. Every ten feet the fences were separated by brick pillars.

"We could get the rest 'n see what's inside," he agreed.

Glenn kissed Maggie on the cheek. "Nice find, babe," he said with a smile, before turning around to inform the others. Maggie looked at him for a moment before looking back at Glenn, and decided to accompany her boyfriend. She shrugged with a bright smile on her face before she rushed to catch up with the Korean guy.

Daryl shook his head at the two lovebirds, and decided to walk around the house to see if anyone – or any_thing_ – was in there. It turned out he was right about the porch and patio, the porch even had two white rocking chairs. There was no pool though, but instead there was a small pond with some carp swimming around in it. He smirked to himself, they'd finally eat something different than squirrel or rabbit for a change.

While walking around the house, he kept his eyes out for any movement, any indication of trouble, but it appeared to be empty and safe. Once he got back where Maggie and Glenn had brought him, the rest of the group had already arrived and was now hopefully waiting for him to bring them the good news.

"And?" Rick asked.

"Looks fine to me."

Enthusiastic sounds filled the air, and he smirked at all the happy faces. He couldn't disagree with them, it was beyond doubts a perfect place to hold up for a while.

After a few moments everybody had calmed down, and Glenn spoke up.

"How are we going to get in?"

"There's a gate on the other side, but it's secured with chains and padlocks and everything," he said. "Someone didn't want people to get in."

"So what do we do now?" Maggie asked.

After a brief silence, Daryl said, "We could try to climb it."

Carl snorted. "With those sharp tips? No thanks, I don't want to arrive as a Swiss cheese."

"I was talking about one of those brick columns," Daryl grumbled.

The boy just rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Rick sighed audibly and scratched the back of his neck. "We could see if we can find anything to stand on. But don't go alone. Pair up, and take something with you. We'll meet back here in not more than thirty minutes."

Hershel waved with one of his crutches in front of Rick's face. "I'll wait with Judith, it's not easy to hobble through these woods with only one leg."

"I'm staying with my father," Beth said while looking at the older man. "There wouldn't be an even number anyways."

"Alright then," Rick said. "C'mon Carl, let's go."

He walked east with the boy slowly trudging behind him, and disappeared between the trees.

"Are we going that way?"

Daryl jumped and looked down at Carol who suddenly stood next to him, pointing toward the west.

"Christ woman, don't sneak up on me like that," he grunted.

She chuckled. "Sorry."

He looked around, but Maggie and Glenn had already disappeared behind the house.

"That way's fine," he said, and shifted his crossbow on his shoulder before walking into the direction Carol had just pointed at.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, before Carol growled something.

"Hmm?"

She stopped in her tracks and gestured around them. "What are we even looking for? There's nothing but trees and dirt. There aren't even any animals."

"There were animals before you came."

She crossed her arms. "Why just me?"

"I'm not the one snappin' twigs every two seconds."

When she kept quiet, looking behind her like she wanted to see if there were any un-snapped twigs on his side of the path that could serve as evidence, he chuckled.

"Oh c'mon now. We're just lookin' for something big enough to stand on. 'n besides, chances are Rick and Glenn find shit too, so we don't necessarily _have _to find anything."

She snapped her head up at him with a smug smile playing around her lips. "So it's basically just a nice, romantic walk in the woods?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. Why did she always pull that shit? Then his tracker ears detected a sound and he smirked as he saw where it came from.

"Dunno, I guess it could be pretty romantic with that dude over there," he said, nodding at a walker that was about a hundred feet away and hadn't noticed them yet. She took her eyes off him to look at what he was talking about, and instinctively stepped closer to him.

"I wasn't talking about _that_ dude," she said softly. "If you could just shoot it now, it's spotted us."

She was right, the walker was now stumbling towards them, loudly groaning as it stretched its bony fingers out at them. It was slow though, and still far away, so he decided it was okay to get back at her.

"Ya sure? The guy looks pretty eager to meet ya," he said.

"Daryl," she hissed, stepping even closer to him. "The guy looks pretty eager to chew on my face."

He smirked, and didn't hurry to get his crossbow. "No romantic walk, huh?"

She replied with a firm elbow in his ribs, and he shot it with a crooked smile while it was still fifteen feet away.

"Quit jokin', get searchin," he said, and started walking again.

The rest of the way they walked in silence, occasionally bumping shoulders as she kept walking close to him, just in case. It was a comfortable silence, he knew she wasn't mad. He'd never really seen angry, to be honest. Even when he lost his temper with her back at the farm she just kept quiet and let him rage, even though it was completely unfair, undeserved and just plain mean. He still felt so ashamed when he thought about it, but never apologized. He decided he was going to do that soon.

They didn't find anything, so after around fifteen minutes they turned around and walked back.

"I hope the others have found something, because I'm going to die if we'd have to leave that house behind," Carol said after a while.

"If they didn't, I'm gonna use the Korean kid as a stool," Daryl grunted. He could hear a soft giggle next to him, and couldn't help but smirk himself. He liked it when he made her laugh.

When they got back at the house, Rick and Carl were already there. It didn't look like they had found anything, but he still asked, just to be sure.

"And?"

"Nothing. Just plastic bags and other useless stuff, nothing that could come in handy."

"Same here. Let's hope Glenn and Maggie found something."

A few minutes later, they all heard a familiar, loud ringing sound.

"What the.." Daryl started, but stopped midway as Glenn came cycling around the corner on a bright green male bicycle, with Maggie sitting sideways on the stand, beaming.

"Surprise!" She smiled as she hopped off. "We can place it against the pillar and then stand on the stand to climb over it."

"Great work, guys," Rick said.

"Ima go check it out first, see if it's really safe before we all lock ourselves in there," Daryl said as Glenn got off the bike and placed it against the wall. "Someone can get Hershel and Beth."

Rick gave him a quick nod, and he stepped forward and placed one foot on the stand of the bike. He looked around and met Carol's eyes for a moment, and couldn't help but feel a fluttery sensation in his stomach as she smiled at him. He turned back to the wall, and grabbed the edge as he lifted himself on the bike. He placed one foot on the saddle to get a little higher, and then jumped and pulled himself on the pillar. He stood up and looked down carefully. It was high, he had to be cautious if he didn't want to break both his ankles. He decided to play safe and sat down, legs dangling over the edge. He slowly turned around and let himself hang for a second before letting go, only falling twenty inches. He dropped quite graciously to the ground, and gave the group a thumbs-up through the fence.  
"Be right back."

He walked around the house, to see if the front door was open. It wasn't – of course not, these things never went the easy way. He looked over his shoulder, but he was still alone. He promptly slammed the butt of his crossbow through the window closest to the doorknob, pushed a few remaining glass shards out and waited to listen if anyone was inside. When everything kept quiet, he shoved his hand through the hole and opened the door.

He checked every room, but the house was empty. There was food though, and the house looked like it had just been thoroughly cleaned, so he had his suspicions. But these days coming home safely wasn't a guarantee, so it was perfectly possible that the owners of the house were getting eaten at that very same moment. Besides, they always kept someone on watch at all times, so if the owners were to come back, they'd know about it right away.

* * *

**A few hours later**

As Daryl marched around the house while keeping watch, he involuntarily rubbed his belly. The people before them left the house in a fantastic shape, with plenty of food, a barbecue, and the fish in the small pond of course, so they ate grilled carp and jacked potatoes for dinner. His body hadn't processed that much food since the few days they'd spent at the CDC, so now his stomach was starting to protest a little.

He turned around the corner, and flew backwards immediately while grabbing his crossbow and aiming it at the woman that pushed the end of a shotgun barrel in his face.

"Put down your weapon," she said.

He stepped a little closer, still aiming at her forehead.

"Fuck you."

"I don't want to do this, kid. Just put it down," she ordered.

He glared at her. "Got fifteen people inside, kill me and ya've got a bullet between yer' eyes before ya can even blink," he said, guessing exaggerating a little couldn't hurt.

She seemed to over think this, but just as he opened his mouth to utter another threat, something forcibly slammed into his temple and everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

**How was everyone's Fathers Day? :) This chapter is a bit shorter, but I couldn't leave it out. By the way, I know OC's aren't always appreciated, so I hope you guys will like these. **

**Let me know if you enjoyed it and I'll hopefully see you at the next chapter! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or it's characters. I did, however, come up with two new characters who are not based on anyone. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.**

* * *

"I think he's waking up.."

"Are you sure? He doesn't look very awake."

"I think so. Daryl, are you there?"

His head throbbed and he fought to open his eyes.

"Look at his face, I think he hears us."

"Daryl?"

He opened his eyes, but closed them almost right away as the light was way too bright. He tried to raise his hand, but someone grabbed hold of it before he could bring it up to his face. What the fuck was going on?

"I think the light hurts his eyes. Can we shut those blinds?"

"He might have a concussion. He's not going to like that."

He groaned and opened his eyes once again, but his vision was all blurry and shit.

"Are you awake?" A male voice asked. "Do you hear me?"

He wanted to answer, to say that they were talking way too fucking loud, but his mouth was dry and his mind didn't cooperate.

"Oh, he's awake?", another male said. "I'm sorry 'bout that blow to the head, son. Didn't like seeing an arrow aimed at my wife's head."

A blow to the head? Was that why everything hurt so much? Jesus fucking Christ.

"Fuck you," he managed to bring out with a rusty voice, closing his eyes again.

Chuckles filled the air. "Yeah, he's definitely awake," someone laughed.

"Can you open your eyes and look at me for a second?" Male one asked.

Could he? He just wanted to make the pain go away, to be honest. "No."

"I need to see if you've got a concussion."

"No."

A sigh. "Fine. Rest some more. Either I or Carol will wake you up every two hours."

He replied with a growl and let himself drift off to sleep again.

* * *

**Two hours later**

"Daryl?"

Someone softly nudged his shoulder. "Daryl, wake up."

He opened his eyes and looked into two big blue eyes he recognized as Carol's.

"Hi there," she smiled. "How do you feel?"

"How does it look like I feel?", he grunted.

"Well, you do look better than two hours ago," she said. "And you're already more responsive, that's good too."

He eyed her quietly.

She stared back at him for a moment, before standing up. "I'll go get Hershel."

He closed his eyes again and brought his hand up to his temple, it was swollen and painful.

"Damn," he mumbled. That asshole got him good.

"Alright son, are you ready to answer some questions?"

He opened his eyes again and watched Hershel coming in, shortly followed by Carol. Questions? What questions? What the hell did he do wrong?

"I didn't do nothing," he rasped.

"I know, I just want to see if your brain got damaged by the impact."

Oh. "It didn't."

"We'll see about that. Do you know who you are?" The old man asked.

"Daryl."

"Do you know who's sitting next to me?"

He glanced at the woman, who was looking at him hopefully.

"Carol," he replied, and noticed a smile forming on her face.

"What day is it?"

He glared at the man. "Are ya kidding right now?"

Hershel smiled. "Just checking."

Daryl grunted in response and tried to sit up, but got stopped by Carol gently pressing him down onto his pillow.

"What the fuck are you doing?", he asked.

"You have to rest," she said.

"I have to take a piss," he snarled, sounding angrier than he intended.

She held up a bucket, and he looked at her incredulously. Did she really think he was gonna piss in a bucket? Hell to the fucking no.

He scowled at her and sat up, ignoring the increasing pain in his head. From the corner of his eye he saw her sit back on a chair while crossing her arms.

"Fine. Go ahead then, be stubborn, let's see how far you'll get," she said.

Hershel chuckled breathily. "Alright, I think it's time for me to go," he said, before fleeing the room as fast as his crutches allowed.

Daryl didn't like the tone of Carol's voice, but figured he had it coming with the way he had just talked to her. He shoved his legs out of bed, and slowly lifted himself off it. As soon as they had to carry some weight, his legs almost gave way underneath him. He grabbed the nightstand next to the bed and leaned heavily on it, closing his eyes as his headache got worse and he was getting dizzy.

"What's wrong? Aren't you going to the bathroom?", he heard from behind him. He looked over his shoulder and eyed her for a few seconds as she obviously tried to hold back a smile.

"I was just trying to remember the way to the toilet," he muttered, realizing what a terribly weak excuse that was. He saw she was thinking the same thing as a big grin appeared on her face.

"Oh really?", she beamed, "Would you like me to guide you?"

"Nah, I've got it," he said, and set a step forward. That went alright.. He set another step, and noticed it was still going well. But now he had reached the end of the nightstand, and he knew he wasn't going to get far right now. He sighed, looked back at her and bent his elbow with a sigh, inviting her to come and support him.

* * *

**Another few hours later**

The rest of the day passed quietly. Carol insisted he should stay in bed for at least the day, so he didn't do much more than sleep and occasionally steal a glance at her as she sat next to his bed for most of the time, reading a book she said she had found in the house. He was still sore, but it was bearable. Just after dinner, he was talking with Carol – or actually more listening to Carol, as he didn't really say much – for a bit, when some lady peeped her head around the corner.

"Is he awake?" she asked Carol, before looking at him. "Oh, right." She adjusted her hair a bit before coming in entirely. "Hey kid."

He took her in quietly. She was older than he was, and older than Carol too. Her face was starting to show some wrinkles and her hair was grey. She fidgeted with a ring around her finger, but looked him in the eye quite confidently. He gave her a hesitant nod, wondering who she was and where the hell she came from, as he didn't expect Rick to just start taking in random people after the whole situation with the Governor – especially not after they had just almost fractured his skull.

"I'm sorry for almost blowing your brains out," she said.

"Excuse me?"

"Don't you remember?"

"Some guy told me about a smack to the head, but no one said anything about almost blowing my brains out," he grunted.

"That 'guy' was my husband," she smiled. "We saw an intruder in our house, so we protected it. It's as simple as that. But just as John knocked you out, that nice man Nick showed up. Although he wasn't very nice at first. But we explained the situation and after a while, everything was okay. We told him you guys can stay here if you want to."

_Their _house? Well, that explained a lot. "Seriously? You're not throwing us out?" he asked incredulously, assuming she had meant Rick when she said Nick.

"The more, the merrier, right? We haven't seen any people in months – _living _people, that is."

"Right.." he mumbled.

She stared at him for a moment, before suddenly jumping forwards. "Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself!" she practically _screamed_ out. He shot Carol a brief 'what the hell is this woman doing oh god help me'-look, but she just chuckled silently and stayed where she was.

"I'm Nancy," the older woman said enthusiastically. "Nancy Mayfield. And you're.. Darnell, right?"

Carol clamped a hand over her mouth – it was probably the combination of 'Darnell' and his face that did it – but Nancy didn't seem to notice.

"Daryl," he answered gruffly.

"Oh, tomato tomato," she replied with a bright smile, "Well, I just came to apologize. I'll see you around!". Then she got up and quickly left the room, and they were alone once again.

He stared at the door, trying to figure out what just happened. Then he looked at Carol, who was following his every move with a big grin on her face.

"Yup, that's what we're going to live with," she said, answering the question he was just about to ask.

He sighed. "I should've just shot that arrow."

"Don't say that, she's a really nice woman. She's just very.. happy to have us around," Carol smiled. "Her husband on the other hand.. He's nice, but a bit odd."

"No, _she _is a bit odd. If the husband's worse, he's just fucking nuts," Daryl pointed out.

"He's not _that _bad. He's just.. he's got an old fashioned sense of style, if you could call it that. He's got this pompadour and keeps throwing words no one understands into the conversation. He called me 'cat' just a few hours ago."

Daryl snorted. "Cat and a pompadour? That'd be the fifties."

"How do you know?" Carol asked.

"I worked at a Harley Davidson shop before all this. Had a lot of those rockabilly dudes drop by, and the boss played the music a lot. Ya know 'Blue Suede Shoes', right? Elvis. Go, cat, go. That shit."

"You worked?"

"I explain something and ya only hear I worked? What did ya think, that I ran through the woods all day shootin' at things?"

She chuckled. "I don't know. You could've."

"I would've, to be honest. But someone had to earn money, y'know," he admitted. It was true. If it wasn't for him, they'd probably spent all his spare time outside, mostly to get away from his father and Merle when he wasn't in juvie.

She looked at him with a hint of sadness in her eyes and nodded. "I get it."

He had told her bits of his youth at times. They'd grown closer ever since he saved her from those prison tombs. She sought out his company a lot and he often caught himself liking being around her, even though they sometimes didn't even talk at all. And that was the whole point, really: She didn't feel the need to constantly talk to him, she enjoyed the silences too. She understood him. He maybe even dared to say they were friends.

"So, the fifties you said, huh?", she said with a smile, breaking the silence. "Do you know any other words I can impress the man with?"


End file.
